The document discusses safety and risk management for events. It emphasizes identifying potential hazards and risks, developing controls to prevent or minimize risks, and having contingency plans in place. A safety and security team should assess risks and develop an emergency plan. Potential risks include issues with the venue, structures, electrical systems, crowd control, transportation, and sanitation. The team should evaluate each part of the event and activities for hazards. The overall goal is to protect people and property and ensure a safe, healthy environment for all involved in the event.

1. EVENT SAFETY AND RISK MANAGEMENT
CMICE

2. EVENTS AND RISKS
 Events management includes preparing for the best
that could happen, as well as the worst.
 Any plan stands the risk of uncertainty, and event
plans are not exempt.
 No amount of preparation can provide a hundred
percent assurance that things will go on as planned.
 The best way is to identify what could go wrong,
eliminate or minimize the chances of this occurring,
and be prepared in case the problem still persists.

3. SAFETY AND SECURITY
 Safety and security are two of the primary
considerations of event attendees, particularly in the
light of present time uncertainties.
 The event manager should be prepared to identify
risks and potential problems at the event; how these
potential problems and threats may be avoided; and
how to minimize the effects should problems occur
despite efforts to prevent them.
 Always cool under pressure, the event manager should
nonetheless, be in control of crisis situations.
 It is important to have precautionary and contingency
measures in place at any event, and anticipate budget
inclusion for these.

4. SAFETY AND SECURITY
 Though often misconstrued as synonymous, safety and security differ.
 Safety refers to protection of people from harm.
 Security refers to protection of property from damage or loss.
 Nonetheless, both are genuine concerns than an Event Manager must seriously plan for, fund, and
cautiously address.
 In any event, the organizers must always learn, prepare and take to heart their responsibility to protect
people; property; reputation; and revenues.

5. SAFETY AND SECURITY TEAM
 Create a safety and security team to help
assess risks and potential problems at the
event.
 This team must have the authority to
develop an emergency management plan.
 The team evaluates the likelihood of risks,
safety and security breach, and operational
problems.

6. SAFETY AND SECURITY TEAM
 Among the areas or elements of the event that must be evaluated for safety, security and risks are:
 Design of the venue and event site
 Stage and other structures
 Special effects
 Electrical connections
 Crowd control
 Transportation
 Sanitation facilities and waste management

7. RISK ASSESSMENT
 Protection of people at the event is always top
priority.
 Those who will need protection are the attendees
and the workers at the event.
 The aim is to maintain a safe and healthy event
environment.
 At the same time, also be conscious of protecting
property – those of the attendees, the venue, the
suppliers, the host, and the event management
team.

8. RISK ASSESSMENT
 Identifying and addressing “significant risks” is
a responsibility of the event management
team.
 Significant risks are those which are seen to be
reasonably likely to happen and severe enough
in outcome to warrant serious consideration.
 Risk assessment should be done by competent
staff who are knowledgeable about the event,
the activities, the expected participants, and
the venue.

9. HAZARD
 Is something that has the potential to cause harm or
injury to people, or loss or damage to property.
 Hazards could be physical (a vehicle), biological (food
contamination), chemical (carbon monoxide emitted by
the exhaust), ergonomic (muscle pain due to working for
long hours), or psychosocial (violence).

10. RISK
 Is the potential for that hazard to become a reality.
 An event manager must be able to understand that while many elements in the event may be hazardous,
it is in the context in which these elements arise that would spell whether or not these are actually a risk.

11. 5 STEP APPROACH IN RISK ASSESSMENT
Identify the
hazard
Assess the
risk
Develop
controls
Monitor
and review
Implement
controls

12. VENUE AND EVENT SITE DESIGN
 Have the Safety and Security Team survey the venue and
event site before the event to determine the potential
hazards.
 If corrections are necessary, have these put to order
before the event.
 The Event Manager walks through the event site before
the event begins, periodically during the event, and after
the event.
 Visualize how each of the event activities will proceed,
determine potential hazards for each activity, plan how to
prevent these, and, similarly, prepare a contingency plan
in case the worst happens.

13. VENUE AND EVENT SITE DESIGN
 Brainstorm and identify how the risk can be eliminated.
 Seek the help of venue management for necessary corrections.
 Discuss any precautionary measures with venue management.
 Be aware of the venue’s fire safety and evacuation plan. Secure a copy of the plan and have members of
the S&S team learn these. Aside from the S&S, identify event staff who will help implement the
evacuation plan. Make sure all are properly trained to guide attendees to safety.
 Discuss measures to take in case of a bomb threat or a terrorist attack.

14. VENUE AND EVENT SITE DESIGN
 Check if there is a medical clinic or First Aid station within the venue. Determine its capability to handle
possible emergencies.
 Provide the S&S team a list of possible emergency numbers:
 Ambulance service
 Hospital/medical facility
 Fire department
 Police
 Bomb squad
 Search and rescue team
 Security personnel
 The first 30 minutes of an emergency situation are the most dangerous; therefore it is imperative that the
appropriate emergency response agency is contacted, and will immediately arrive at the scene.

15. STAGE AND OTHER STRUCTURES
 Inspect the stage and other structures that are
built or installed for the event.
 Check for defects that may cause harm to workers,
performers, and other people.

16. SPECIAL EFFECTS
 If special effects and pyrotechnics will be used
for the event, work only with licensed and
experienced providers.
 Invite the supplier to check the event site for
feasibility of using the effects plan before finally
deciding to contract their services.
 Require the supplier to have safety measures
and equipment ready.

17. ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS
 Meet with the venue management regarding the event’s electrical power requirements.
 Together with the event’s Electrical Engineer, determine the power requirements to stage the event
according to the event plan, and evaluate power supply.
 Use only well-insulated cables and wires, discard cables with exposed wiring.
 Cables and electrical connections must be neatly laid out to prevent people from tripping over.

18. CROWD CONTROL
 The main purpose of events is to gather people, but
bringing a lot of people together can pose problems.
 When people are grouped together, the crowd takes a
personality of its own.
 During the planning stage, the Event Team must
already visualize hoe the crowd is likely to behave –
from entrance to exit.

19. UNSAFE CROWD MOVEMENTS
 Crowd Crush
 Is caused by the compression of a crowd from a big space to a smaller and smaller area
 Crowd Craze
 Or crowd pressure is caused by over-excitement, a competitive rush or push of a crowd towards a person or
object
 Crowd Surge
 Is the compression of a crowd towards a particular direction
 Crowd Collapse
 When people at the front of the crowd rush forward causing some of them to trip and fall
 Crowd Panic
 Refers to the out-of-control movement to escape a real or perceived danger

20. TRANSPORTATION
 Work only with reputable transport companies that maintain vehicles in good running condition.
 Plan to have enough vehicles on-hand to accommodate all participants, and the event organizer.
 Never overcrowd or overload transport vehicles.

21. SANITATION FACILITIES AND WASTE MANAGEMENT
 Clean surroundings keep people safe not only from accidents but also from illness.
 Congestion in a crowd invites the easy spread of disease.
 This emphasizes the need to have a good crowd control and human traffic plan.

22. PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
 For events that have the potential to be commercially viable if video-recorded, include prohibition of
cameras and video recording devices at the event.

23. INCIDENT REPORTS
 Require event and security personnel to file an incident report regardless of the severity of the incident.

24. PROBLEM ANALYSIS AND CONTINGENCY PLANNING
 For every event, prepare (1) a plan to prevent safety violations and accidents from happening
(Prevention); (2) a plan which will minimize the effects of these problems in case these will still do
happen despite preparations made to prevent them (Contingency); and a Crisis Management Plan, in
case the situation escalates to a full-blown crisis situation.
 The key is to identify potential problems, preventive action, and contingent action.